Marionette
by Jazlynn
Summary: Marluxia has found himself within a string of unexplainable events. A forgotten past coming back to haunt him, nightmarish premonitions, and a girl that only he can see. What does it all mean? And will he figure it out before something disastrous occurs?


Hello loverlies! What we have here is not only a new project of mine, but also a project of Vegeluxia. We've teamed up to bring you a nice little horror story featuring our favourite character, Marluxia. We have it all planned out and we are aiming for ten chapters. So, sit back, enjoy, and most importantly, review. We want compliments and feedback.

**M a r i o n e t t e .**  
_Co-written by_ Jazlynn _&_ Vegeluxia

**Occurrence**

Silence was the only word to describe the night in which I'd found myself. It was quiet. Too quiet. And the lack of sound did nothing to improve the scenery. Now, I wasn't one to be scared. How could I be scared? It was simply impossible for me. I didn't have the heart to be scared. Yet the scenery really made me wonder. If I _could_ be scared, should I be?

A thick fog enveloped me along with the street I walked along, the only light to guide my way was from the crepuscular glow emitting from the full moon above. I quickly made my way along the cobblestone street, eager to finish the mission I'd been sent here to complete.

A cold wind rushed by me, rustling my coat and causing me to involuntarily shiver. I did not want to be here in this world. This world only raised memories of emotions of a time long past. For a time there was happiness. This happiness was short-lived and had been quickly dominated by fear, hatred, worry, sadness, and absolute agony. Such was the past that had embraced me here in this world. My memories of the past were very fuzzy – very vague. I only remembered the emotions and the moment the Heartless tore my heart from my chest. And then there was another thing that I remembered. Something I remembered and something that I still held to this day.

Regret. For what, I simply can't remember. I just know it's there, tearing away at my nonbeing. I've always had this regret. Always. For regret can't necessarily be classified as an emotion. There was something that I should have done in my past that I didn't. There was something I had to do, which I had the opportunity to do, and I passed it up. That kind of thing isn't an emotion. It is a mental awareness that tears away at me all the time. I know that I should feel upset, but I can't. And sometimes, I wonder if my quest to regain my heart is all just because I want to feel those tormenting emotions of self-hatred and misery.

I shrugged the thoughts off as I prioritized the things that needed to be accomplished. Finishing my mission was far more important than thinking about negative emotions. So, I would focus on my mission. After all, I knew this world better than anyone else in Organization XIII. I knew exactly where to find the required object of significance.

The object of significance was a Dawn Crystal. They have only ever been found in one world – my world. And not only was this Crystal rare for the entirety of worlds, it was rare for this world. According to Xemnas, if the Organization came to acquire a Dawn Crystal, we'd be able to synthesize more powerful weapons. I didn't doubt this. Dawn Crystals are the strongest crystal there is. They can cut through anything. The only other thing that can cut through them would be other Dawn Crystals. They had limitless potential. Yet, for some reason, in my world, people decided that Dawn Crystals would be better served as jewelry. Very expensive jewelry that is constantly under lock and key. No matter, I didn't need a key to get a Dawn Crystal. I already knew where one was.

I hurried my way through the fog and gloom, my eyes gazing across damp lawns to view the large, dark silhouettes of neatly lined Victorian mansions separated by strong brick walls. As I walked by each house, I let a gloved hand trail along the metal picket fences that shielded the well**-**groomed properties. Yes, each house seemed to be well taken care of. All except for one.

I stopped to gaze curiously upon the tattered house. It looked like it had been abandoned quite some time ago. Shingles were falling off the roof, shutters were coming off their hinges, and weeds ran rampant across an overgrown lawn. Yet this was where I would find a Dawn Crystal.

I pushed open the gate that barred this house from the street and cringed as it made a high pitched squeal. The noise was unbearable to hear and it would alert nearby people to my presence. I quickly made my way up the cracked stone path to get to the front entrance. I was forced to cringe once again as I stepped up onto the porch. It creaked under my weight, announcing each step I took. I would be glad to get into the house. Noise made inside would not easily be heard outside. But one more sound wasworking against me as I made my entrance. The door screeched loudly as I opened it, almost as if it were wailing for me to go away. Like that would ever happen. I stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

A wave of nostalgia washed over me as I took in my surroundings. I knew this place. I knew this house. I'd been in here before. Perhaps that was why I was so certain I'd find the Dawn Crystal here.

I walked forward, stepping into the middle of the large, spacious entrance. My gaze lifted to look upon a massive chandelier hanging right above me. Its frame was covered in cobwebs and the small glass pieces were so dusty that they hardly looked like glass. It was a shame to see. I recalled the potential of this chandelier. If properly taken care of, it could be a beautiful thing.

With an emotionless frown, I continued forward. My eyes focused on a flight of stairs right in front of me. This was where I had to go. I quickly ascended the stairs, wishing to get what I came for and go. The familiarity of this house was beginning to unsettle me – if that was possible. It's not like I had any emotion driving me or anything. I just wanted to leave.

I quickly made my way around the upper floor, twisting around various different hallways until I reached my destination. I pushed open a door to enter what was once a bedroom. And I thought I'd been hit hard by nostalgia when I entered the house itself **--** The moment I viewed the room, I _knew_ I'd been here before. The familiarity was unwelcoming. This place had connections to my past, and my past was not something to be coveted. It was not something I wanted to be reminded of now that I'd forgotten about it. I needed to leave. And soon.

I approached a night table by the bed and looked down to see what was on it. I found a dusty round object with a knob on it and I felt my lips turn up into a smile. This was what I came for. This was my Dawn Crystal.

I carefully picked up the object, wiping the dust off with my fingers. The silver band was beginning to tarnish, but the Dawn Crystal was still in perfect condition. But perhaps 'Dawn Crystal' wasn't an entirely accurate name to be used in this situation. The term that this world gave it was much more appropriate. This was a diamond ring – an engagement ring.

With a smile, I began to turn away from the night table, before something else caught my eyes. I stopped to gaze upon something I hadn't noticed before. A frame covered in dust sat upon the table, seemingly screaming for me to look at it. I reached out a hand to pick it up. I couldn't make out what the image was because of the dust. I took in a deep breath of musty air to blow away the image-distorting nuisance. When the image became clear, my hand recoiled and I immediately took a step back. The picture frame clattered to the ground, the glass shattering to reveal even more of the image. I turned away, but the image had already burned itself into my mind.

I had forgotten all about the picture – the loving couple who smiled back at me. I knew them. I remembered now. The memories began to slowly come back in pieces. I closed my eyes to try and shut out everything that was coming back to me. All I saw was that godforsaken picture. The beautiful golden-haired woman with sky-blue eyes being held by the auburn haired man with ocean coloured eyes. That man, I saw him everyday when I looked in the mirror. But the woman, her voice was silent to me.

"Sarah…" I whispered the ghostly name in reminiscence. My hand reached into my pocket and I held the diamond ring tightly. That ring represented my life. Tarnished silver – a life being consumed by darkness.

My eyes hardened, remaining emotionless. That's right. I had no emotion. What did I care about things that had happened long ago? I didn't. And it would remain that way. It was time I took my leave of this place. I raised my hand to create a portal.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

I paused, confused by the sound. Was water leaking somewhere? Surely that couldn't be possible. I hadn't heard anything until now. This subtle sound had me curious. Where was it coming from? Not from the room. I found myself following the sound. It sounded so clear as if it was nearby, but it was taking me rather far. In fact, it was bringing me right back to the main hall.

I came to the overhang that overlookedthe main entrance. I gripped the railing with my hands for support, for what I saw was shocking – even to a Nobody. There was a girl there, standing in the middle of the entrance, almost beneath the chandelier. Her expression held all the innocence that a child**'s** should, yet something was most definitely off. Her ebony curls, her pale white face, and the fancy little dress she wore were all matted with blood. She was looking at me with blue eyes. Bright, blue, innocent eyes.

Perhaps the shocking factor might have been that she was in the house in the first place. It might have been that she was covered in blood. But this wasn't what was shocking. The shocking aspect was where blood was dripping from, creating a large crimson pool on the ground. My eyes trailed from the girl to the dripping blood, up to the chandelier. I was welcomed by a pair of white, rolled back eyes from the corpse that hung from ceiling decoration.

So many things ran through my mind in that instant. Just what was this? Why was there a dead man hanging from the chandelier? Why was that little girl standing there looking all innocent? Why was her expression turning into a smile as she looked up at me?

My eyes hardened, and I turned to leave the main hall. This was either some joke staged by a member of Organization XIII, or this was just some random chance. Or perhaps I was hallucinating. That could've been it. I must have inhaled too much dust. Either way, I wasn't staying here any longer. The moment I was out of that strange girl's view, I created a portal and returned to a world that held some sort of sanity. My mission was complete.

_**Kingdom Hearts**__ is © 2002 Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix, and Disney. No copyright infringement intended._


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